{"database": "openregs", "table": "congressional_record", "rows": [["CREC-2025-01-14-pt1-PgS130-5", "2025-01-14", 119, 1, null, null, "LEGISLATIVE SESSION", "SENATE", "SENATE", "SLEGISLATIVE", "S130", "S136", "[{\"name\": \"John Cornyn\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Katie Boyd Britt\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Josh Hawley\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Tom Cotton\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}, {\"name\": \"Richard J. Durbin\", \"role\": \"speaking\"}]", "[{\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"S\", \"number\": \"5\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"SRES\", \"number\": \"24\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"SRES\", \"number\": \"24\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"SRES\", \"number\": \"25\"}, {\"congress\": \"119\", \"type\": \"SRES\", \"number\": \"25\"}]", "171 Cong. Rec. S130", "Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 7 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)\n\n[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 14, 2025)]\n[Senate]\n[Pages S130-S136]\nFrom the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]\n\n                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION\n\n                                 ______\n\n                        LAKEN RILEY ACT--Resumed\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will\nresume consideration of S. 5, which the clerk will report.\n  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:\n\n       A bill (S. 5) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security\n     to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the\n     United States with theft, and for other purposes.\n\n  Pending:\n\n       Thune (for Ernst/Grassley) amendment No. 8, to include\n     crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury to the\n     list of offenses that, if committed by an inadmissible alien,\n     require mandatory detention.\n\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.\n\n                          cabinet nominations\n\n  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, last week, I had a chance to lay out\nsome of my top priorities for the new Congress as Republicans take the\nhelm. Today, I want to elaborate on the first of those priorities,\nwhich is to confirm President Trump's Cabinet.\n  Back in November, November 5--it seems like a long time ago, but it\nwas just the other day--Americans went to the polls to elect new\nleaders, including a President of the United States. Voters made their\nvoices heard as to which direction our country should go because they\nplainly believed that we were heading in the wrong direction.\n  As a result of that vote, President Trump won the election\ndecisively. From my perspective, that means he is entitled to his\nteam--absent some extraordinary circumstances--because it is his team\nor Cabinet that will help him follow through on the promises he made on\nthe campaign trail. Once confirmed, these men and women will then\n\n[[Page S131]]\n\nbe accountable to him and the American people to accomplish the goals\nhe has set out for them. That is the way the process is supposed to\nwork.\n  Madam President, if you remember, back in 2017, during President\nTrump's first term, this process was not what you might call smooth\nsailing. In fact, Senate Democrats did everything they could to delay\nand derail the President's Cabinet. They did so openly, without shame\nor any embarrassment.\n  In fact, when the Senate minority leader at the time was asked in an\ninterview back in 2017 if he would attempt to keep Justice Scalia's\nseat open rather than work with Republicans to confirm a Republican\nPresident's nominee, he said, ``Absolutely.'' Well, it is funny how\nhistory works and how things work out. But of course Democrats went on\nto criticize Republicans for doing exactly the same thing that Senator\nSchumer said he would do if the shoe were on the other foot. It was an\nembarrassing moment or should have been an embarrassing moment for the\nDemocratic minority leader. He sent a clear message to all of us that\nhe was willing to put partisanship ahead of the country and before the\nvoices of the American people who voted for President Trump could be\nheard.\n  If Democrats repeat the same play this year, they will only further\nembarrass themselves and the party and be a disservice to the American\npeople who elected President Trump and JD Vance on November 5. So I\nwould like to caution my colleagues, my Democratic colleagues, not to\nplay the same shenanigans again, but unfortunately it looks like they\nhave come up with a new tactic.\n  The delays we are already starting to see in the confirmation process\nare completely unacceptable. We know when President Trump will be sworn\nin--that is January 20--and we need to make sure that as many members\nof his Cabinet, particularly his national security Cabinet, are\navailable to be confirmed when President Trump takes his hand off the\nBible.\n  Just 2 days ago, Axios news reported some interesting details, for\nexample, surrounding the Democrats' handling of the nomination of Tulsi\nGabbard, President Trump's choice to be Director of National\nIntelligence. According to this report, Democrats on the Senate\nIntelligence Committee are refusing to work as a team with Republicans\nto schedule her hearing, citing concerns that her background checks are\nnot yet completed.\n  This is unacceptable. According to Axios, Ms. Gabbard has submitted\nall of the paperwork required on her end as part of the background\ncheck process. And this is someone who serves currently as a lieutenant\ncolonel in the National Guard, a former Member of Congress, somebody\nwho has been thoroughly vetted for security purposes.\n  It is up to the Biden administration, because they currently hold\noffice--including all parts of the executive branch, including the\nDepartment of Justice and the FBI--it is up to them to make sure the\npaperwork is expedited so Ms. Gabbard can have her hearing and\npresumably, if confirmed, be available to serve on day one, after\nPresident Trump is sworn into office. So the FBI needs to work 24/7--\nnot ``We will get around to it when we can''--they need to work 24/7 to\nget these background checks done before the nomination hearings so the\nhearings can actually be set. We know that if there is the will to get\nit done, it can be done. And in my view, it must be done.\n  If Democrats are so concerned that the Senate does not yet have her\nbackground check, then the President, President Biden, should address\nthose concerns by making sure that his FBI and his Department of\nJustice get the background checks done, because they are still\ntechnically in charge until January 20. There is nothing the Trump\nadministration, the incoming Trump administration, can do officially to\nmake that happen; it is up to President Biden and his FBI and his\nDepartment of Justice.\n  By slow-walking her background check and causing delays for such a\ncritical appointment, the Biden administration is posing a threat--an\nunnecessary threat--to our national security. We all know we are living\nin a dangerous world, and now is not the time to have some prolonged\nand unnecessary vacancy for the Director of National Intelligence.\n  I would hope our Democratic colleagues and the administration--the\ncurrent administration--would abandon this futile and dangerous tactic.\n  As other nominees are working to complete their requisite paperwork,\nI would urge the Biden administration to work with the incoming\nadministration, not against the administration, to expedite this\nprocess. They talk about a peaceful transfer of power--well, that is\nwhat this includes. This is part of that peaceful transfer of power\nfrom one administration to the next.\n  Democrats have a duty and a responsibility to set aside any partisan\ntactics and to give the President an opportunity to have his Cabinet\nconfirmed.\n  Just imagine how Democrats and even the mainstream media would\nrespond if an outgoing Republican administration intentionally caused\ndelays for crucial appointments after voters gave them a mandate. They\nwould claim this is a threat to our Nation's security. Republicans\nwould be accused of playing games and ``playing politics'' with\ncritical government Agencies. And, of course--their favorite pet\naccusation--Democrats would undoubtedly call these tactics ``a threat\nto democracy.'' Well, with the shoe on the other foot, the situation is\nno different.\n  Back in 2015, the Senator from Michigan, Senator Stabenow, said:\n\n       [W]hen a President wins an election, they have the right to\n     have their team.\n\n  That is exactly how we should understand this process. President\nTrump was elected, and he has a right to his team.\n  Again, this doesn't mean that the Senate will rubberstamp any\nnominee. That is what advice and consent is all about: the background\nchecks; the hearings, like we see this morning with the Secretary of\nDefense nominee, Mr. Hegseth. This means committees must hold hearings\nand votes for each of the President's nominees. It is that simple.\n  And, of course, Democrats have every opportunity during these\nhearings to ask any questions that they want and to vote however they\nwant. We are not saying their rights should somehow be constricted. But\nto deny and delay the hearings outright is simply unconscionable and\ndangerous.\n  Democrats are not entitled to sabotage this President by denying him\nhis Cabinet. Any efforts to do so undermine the democratic process and\nthat peaceful transfer of power that we hear so much about and which is\nso important.\n  Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, and the outgoing Biden\nadministration alike must act in the best interest of the country--not\nin their party's best interest, not in pursuit of some partisan agenda,\nbut in the best interest of the country. And it is far from America's\nbest interest to have President Trump sitting alone at the White\nHouse--maybe with the Vice President--and no Cabinet there to support\nhim in his efforts.\n  President Biden should remember that people around the country and\naround the world will be watching very closely his final days in\noffice. Unfortunately, his administration has already been marked by a\nmultitude of failed policies and scandals. President Biden would be\nwise to note that the handling of the transition at the end of his term\ncan, if mishandled, further tarnish his administration's reputation.\nHistory will not be forgiving if his outgoing administration decides to\nthreaten the safety and security of the American people by causing\nunnecessary delays for Cabinet appointments, particularly his national\nsecurity Cabinet.\n  The American people elected President Trump as the next leader of our\ncountry. Now, it is time for the Senate to do our job by making sure\nthat the President has the team he needs to do that job, and I intend\nto do everything I can to see that his nominees are confirmed on a\ntimely basis.\n  I yield the floor.\n  I suggest the absence of a quorum.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.\n  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.\n  Mrs. BRITT. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order\nfor the quorum call be rescinded.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.\n  The Senator from Alabama.\n\n[[Page S132]]\n\n                                  S. 5\n\n  Mrs. BRITT. Madam President, last week, the Senate took a big\nbipartisan step toward honoring the life and legacy of Laken Riley,\nanswering her loved ones' call to action, and protecting American\nfamilies.\n  But that step, no matter how big, was just that, a first step, and\nthere are many to follow if we want to follow through for the American\npeople on the demands to secure our border and interior immigration\nenforcement, make it real, take it seriously. And to do that, we have\nto break the cycle that we have seen year over year.\n  The House passed the Laken Riley Act not once but twice. Senator Budd\ntook this very bill to the Senate floor last year, and, unfortunately,\nour Democratic colleagues blocked it. I personally took the bill to the\nfloor a second time and called on my colleagues to pass it, but not\nonly did they say no, they stood in the way and didn't even allow us to\nhave a hearing in the entire 118th Congress.\n  Democrats persisted in their obstruction in moving this bill forward.\nIt isn't just the Laken Riley Act the Democrats are standing in the way\nof; it is the safety and security of our American citizens. It is\nprogress on making sure that we begin to have a more secure border and\nthat our streets and communities are safer.\n  But today is a new day in the U.S. Senate, and people's tunes have\nchanged. While I am hearing from many of my colleagues across the aisle\nthat they want to vote yes on this bill, that illegal aliens who commit\ncrimes should be sent back to their country not released onto American\nstreets, I am optimistic, but I want to caution my colleagues: Don't\nrevert back to your partisan tribe.\n  We can't lose focus on what this bill is about and what it would do.\nIt would protect American families and save innocent lives. The Laken\nRiley Act is bipartisan; it is straightforward; it is targeted; and it\nis common sense.\n  It will ensure that illegal aliens who committed a theft-related\ncrime after unlawfully crossing our border are off our streets before\nthey can commit the most heinous crime imaginable. Laken Riley's killer\nwas first arrested for coming into our country illegally. Then he was\nunlawfully paroled and released by the Biden administration. Then, in\nNew York, he was ``charged with acting in a manner to injure a child\nless than 17.''\n  Then, again, he was released without ICE issuing a detainer. Then, in\nGeorgia, he was charged for shoplifting, and, again, he was released\nwithout ICE issuing a detainer.\n  Jose Ibarra then went on to kill Laken Riley. The Laken Riley Act\nwould have prevented him from running wild through our country's\nstreets. And had it been law, it would have saved Laken Riley's life.\n  And if we enact it into law in the coming days, it will no doubt save\nAmerican lives, and it will save families from the heartbreak and\ntragedy that Laken Riley's family has had to endure.\n  Now, I want to be clear, this bill does not attempt to fix every\nsingle thing in our immigration and border security system. We all know\nthat there are plenty. And we have had several other border security\nand immigration enforcement bills in the works. I personally have the\nWALL Act and the Keep Our Community Safe Act. But you will notice I am\nnot trying to tack those bills onto the Laken Riley Act as amendments\nbecause this is a targeted bill to protect American families from\ncriminal illegal aliens; isn't that common sense?\n  Look, regardless of which side of the aisle you are on, I think this\nis clearly common ground that we should be able to rally around. I know\nthat my Republican colleagues heard the American people's voices in\nNovember, and we are answering that call. The question remains, will\nenough Democrats join us to make it happen?\n  Unfortunately, there are some working to create another push to block\nthis vital legislation. So special interest groups are working around\nthe clock right now to try to kill this bill.\n  They are waging a campaign of misinformation and, in doing so, trying\nto create enough momentum so this bill doesn't become law. They have\ncreated every farfetched hypothetical that they can dream up but never\ndiscuss the real tragedies--like Laken Riley--and how they could have\nbeen stopped if we had only done our job.\n  I have refuted their claims in conversations with my colleagues, and\nwe will continue to do so. But what the American people should know is\nthis: These are the same groups that have publicly fought to keep our\nborders wide open for years. They are the groups who thought that Joe\nBiden was too tough on the border and immigration, if that is even\npossible.\n  We know how far out of touch that is. These are, of course, groups\nwho don't want ICE detaining criminal illegal aliens. They are the very\ngroups that actually wanted to abolish ICE.\n  I am hopeful that my colleagues will listen to the verdict the\nAmerican people delivered on November 5, rather than the propaganda of\nthese radical interest groups.\n  The time to act is now. The American people have made their voices\nheard. They want action, and they want it without any delays. They want\nthe Laken Riley Act. It is a strong bipartisan piece of legislation\nthat has support from both sides of the aisle in both Chambers.\n  Forty-eight House Democrats voted for it. It is cosponsored by\nSenators John Fetterman and Ruben Gallego of the Democratic Party. I am\ngrateful for their cosponsorship and their courage to say now is the\ntime for results.\n  I have been encouraged by other Members of the Democratic Party who\nhave said: This is a bill I would like to see cross the finish line.\n  Last week, we had 84 Senators who voted to advance it. So each one of\nmy colleagues is left with one simple question this week: What will you\nchoose to protect--open borders or American families? To me, that is a\npretty simple choice.\n  It is time to fulfill the responsibility we have to the American\npeople to protect the citizens of this country from criminals who would\ndo them harm. It is time to make sure that what happened to Laken Riley\nand her family never happens again.\n  It is time to pass the Laken Riley Act, and it is past time to choose\nAmerican families.\n  I look forward to this body having the courage to do that this week.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.\n\n                            Child Tax Credit\n\n  Mr. HAWLEY. Madam President, we are here in the second week of the\n119th Congress with enormous work to do. We have a border to secure; we\nhave streets to make safe; we have an economy to resurrect. We have, in\nshort, a great nation to rebuild.\n  And nothing could be more central to that rebuilding than the\nstrengthening of the American family, and nothing could be more urgent\nfor our future than the revival of the American working class. And\nthose two things go precisely together.\n  The truth is we have been living these last 40 years or so in the\ngreat American decline. Our economy has declined. We were once the\nmanufacturing and trade capital of the world. Everybody wanted to trade\nwith us. We were the envy of the world in every possible way\neconomically. That is not true any longer. Now we are a debtor nation.\nOur standing in the world has declined. We were the leader of the free\nnations not so long ago. Now, the nations of the world rush to court\nChina and regard the United States as yesterday's news.\n  Our cities have declined. They are not safe. Our health has declined.\nOur hope for the future has eroded. And all the while, this town has\nplowed ahead with the failed policies of the last 40 years. This town\nhas assured us that everything is fine. We only need to spend a little\nbit more, issue a little bit more debt, give our giant corporations a\nfew more tax breaks, maybe get involved in another foreign war or two.\nThis town has pursued the projects of the governing class and neglected\nthe weightier matters, the well-being of our families and of our\nworking people.\n  And let's be honest. My party, the Republican party, has too often in\nthese years been part of the problem. The Republican party has too\noften spoken up for corporate interest rather than for the interest of\nfamilies. The Republican party has too often cooperated with a\ncorporate agenda rather than an agenda to empower workers.\n\n[[Page S133]]\n\n  We need a change in this town. We need a change in this Congress. We\nneed a change in this party, and that is the opportunity that we have\nin the moment before us, because I submit to you the fact is this: You\ncan measure the strength of a nation in the strength of its families,\nand you can study the struggles of a nation in the struggles of its\nworking people. And right now, our families and our working people in\nthis country are struggling.\n  There was a time not so long ago in this country when a man got a\nhigh school degree and then got a job and then worked at it decidedly\nand learned a skill and worked hard and saved where he would be able to\nprovide for a family, start a family, get married, provide for kids,\nhave a future, have something to look forward to. That is just not true\nanymore. Those days, in fact, are long since gone.\n  During the last 40 years, real wages for working people have\nflatlined. And during the last 4 years, real wages for working people\nhave declined. Here is just one measure of that. The Bureau of Economic\nAnalysis reports that disposable income--that is income after taxes--\nfell almost 10 percent--10 percent--during Joe Biden's Presidency. And\nthat was, I might emphasize, for all earners. That drop was even\nhigher, more steep and more devastating, for America's working people\nand for America's working families.\n  The fact of the matter is there is no such thing as a family wage any\nlonger, not in this economy. Now parents have to work multiple jobs to\nsupport just one or two kids, if they can afford to have children at\nall. I mean, let's just think. In the 1960s, the average family had\njust shy of four children. Today, that number has fallen by more than\nhalf. And here is the really interesting thing: Families today tell\nresearchers they would like to have more children. To be specific, more\nthan half, approaching 60 percent of American families, tell\nresearchers that they would like to have more kids, but they don't. Why\nnot? Because they can't afford it. And that is all families. The\nnumbers are higher, once again, for working-class families.\n  Here is what I would say. There is something fundamentally wrong with\nan economy when the working people who power that economy cannot afford\nto have children that they want. There is something fundamentally wrong\nwith an economy when the working people who are the strength and source\nof all of its might cannot provide for the children they have with the\nlabor of their own hands. But that is our reality. That is where we are\ntoday. And it is time to do something about it.\n  The test of this Congress will not be what we do for foreign nations.\nIt will not be what we do for our largest corporations. It will not\neven be what we spend on defense or how we increase the Nation's GDP,\nthough those are important priorities. The test of this Congress will\nbe whether we strengthen America's families and whether we deliver for\nAmerica's working people.\n  Because in those families lies the hope of this Nation. And in those\nworking people resides the wellspring of our great national strength.\n  The well-being of our families and of our working people is not one\npriority among many, I submit to you. It is not one more interest to\nsatisfy. It is a moral imperative. It is our overriding moral\nobligation, and it is, for this Congress, a moral test.\n  And for every Republican who went out and campaigned on strengthening\nfamilies, on delivering for working people, for every Republican who\nhas hailed the new working-class coalition that President Trump has\nassembled, this is the time to deliver. This is the time to stand up\nand be counted. Rhetoric on the campaign trail is cheap. Delivering\nactual solutions, delivering actual results here in this body, that is\nthe acid test, and that is where we are today.\n  Now, it is time for this new majority, this Republican majority, to\nstand up and be counted. It is time to deliver on the agenda that we\nran on. It is time to realize the promise that our voters have invested\nin us. It is time to realize the hope for the future that our voters\nare counting on us to deliver.\n  And to meet that test, to meet this moral priority, we must reshape\nour Nation's tax policy and, indeed, rebuild our Nation's economy\naround our Nation's families. And the surest way to do that is to\nreform and expand the child tax credit.\n  You know, the child tax credit was first proposed in its earliest\nform by President Ronald Reagan, who was looking for a way back in the\n1980s in circumstances not so dissimilar from ours, to deliver real,\nmeaningful tax relief to working families with children. And then, in\n1994, the famous Contract with America promised what became today's\nmodern child tax credit to deliver once again real tax relief for every\nworking family in this country. And now it is time for us again to\nstrengthen that pledge and that promise and to deliver new and powerful\ntax relief for every family that will help strengthen our working\nfamilies, help put our workers on a firmer foundation, help get our\neconomy working again for the people who make it work for the entire\nNation.\n\n  Now under current law, the child tax credit is available to eligible\nfamilies with up to $2,000 in tax credit relief per child. Here is my\nsuggestion. Here is my proposal: We should more than double that\namount. We should dramatically increase it. We should make it $5,000\nper child. And more than that, we ought to allow families to apply this\ntax relief against payroll taxes.\n  Currently, even families who are paying into the payroll tax system--\nthat is, families who have a job, workers who have a job, a mom and dad\nwho are paying taxes--they can't begin to claim the child tax relief\nuntil they meet a certain threshold of income.\n  My view is this: We ought to allow them to start applying this tax\nrelief against every dollar that they pay into the payroll tax system.\nMost working-class families pay considerable sums in payroll taxes but\nrelatively little in income taxes. And there is a lot of misinformation\nabout this, a lot of misnomers out there, many of them, sadly, repeated\nby some who call themselves conservatives. You all heard that old saw\nthat 47 percent of American taxpayers, American workers, don't actually\npay into the tax system. That is just not true. Every worker who has a\njob is paying payroll taxes; that is over 15 percent. And many of them\nare paying full freight because they are self-employed or they are gig\nworkers.\n  My point is this: If you have got a job and are working, you are\npaying into America's tax system. You are paying payroll taxes. And for\nfamilies, many working-class families, they are paying significant sums\nin payroll taxes. But because of the increased threshold for income\ntaxes, they don't have a whole lot of income tax liability.\n  So the challenge is: How do we deliver real and meaningful tax relief\nto these working-class families who are paying significant amounts of\nmoney in payroll taxes but yet don't qualify for those income tax\ndeductions and benefits that higher earners get, like the home mortgage\ndeduction, for instance. That only kicks in if you are at a certain\nlevel of income. For many working-class families, they don't qualify\nfor those deductions. They don't qualify for those tax expenditures.\nBut yet they are paying significant sums in payroll taxes every single\nyear.\n  This proposal delivers significant tax relief to them. It allows them\nto claim tax relief for every child who they are raising as they go out\nthere and they work their jobs. And I would just say to you, this is\nhow it was meant to be. The child tax credit as it was proposed in its\ncurrent form by that Republican Congress in the 1990s, as it was\nproposed in the Contract with America back in 1994 was supposed to be\ncredited against payroll taxes. That was the original proposal, and\nthere is good reason for that. These families are contributing to our\neconomic system, to Social Security and Medicare. They are paying\ntaxes, along with everybody else, but right now they are not getting\ntax relief. The Contract with America was supposed to change that. It\nis time to deliver on that promise: Make the child tax credit available\nagainst the first dollar earned in payroll taxes.\n  Here is another change. We ought to deliver the credit to families in\nregular installments throughout the year. The truth is many working\nfamilies can't afford to wait until the end of the year to tally up and\nfigure out how much tax credit they might get back, how much relief\nthey might qualify for. They are paying their taxes in every\n\n[[Page S134]]\n\nsingle paycheck that they earn. It is coming out of their paycheck\nevery couple of weeks or every month. We ought to be returning real tax\nrelief to them in the same increments. So let's make it advanceable.\nLet's give it to families in installments that they can use across the\nyear as they go out there and earn a living and pay their taxes.\n  And we ought to make the credit available to expecting parents as\nwell. We should say that parents who are expecting children, a child\nnot yet born, ought to be able to claim that tax credit up to $5,000\ndepending on the amount of payroll taxes that they pay, even if the\nbaby has not yet arrived.\n  Pregnancy is costly. Hospital bills are outrageous, and working\nfamilies who are expecting children should be able to claim tax relief\non the same basis as families with older kids.\n  This plan would provide major generational tax relief for working\nfamilies with children. And I emphasize ``working.'' What I propose is\nnot social assistance. It is not social insurance even. It is a tax\ncut. You have to work a job and pay taxes in order to earn the credit.\n  But under our current system, too many families do work. Under our\ncurrent system, too many do pay considerable sums in taxes but do not\nqualify for tax relief in any meaningful way. It is time to change that\nand make this relief available for working families.\n\n  And this proposal advances a second important principle as well. And\nthat is the principle that everyone who pays taxes ought to get relief,\nand relief ought to be available on the basis of family.\n  Conservatives have said for years that family is the cornerstone of\nsociety. We have said for years that it is the first and irreplaceable\nbuilding block of our Nation.\n  Well, our tax policy ought to reflect that. Our whole national policy\nought to reflect that, and we shouldn't shy away from saying that we\nought to deliver tax relief and tax cuts on the basis of family\nformation, on the basis of family size, and, yes, on the basis of\nfamily need.\n  Madam President, this is only the beginning. There is much more to\ndo. We have years of decline of the American family to reverse. We have\nyears of neglect of the American worker to undo. The challenges are\nindeed formidable, but this is the moment for the revival that we seek.\nAnd so let us not delay. Let us begin.\n  I yield the floor.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.\n\n         Unanimous Consent Requests--S. Res. 24 and S. Res. 25\n\n  Mr. COTTON. Madam President, for almost 4 years now, Joe Biden has\nsubjected our country to economic misery, uncontrolled crime, and\ninternational humiliation. And now, on the way out of his failed and\nscandal-plagued Presidency, he is showering gifts and favors to some of\nthe most depraved human beings.\n  It started last month with Hunter Biden, pardoning his own son not\njust for the crimes he was convicted of and pleaded guilty to but for\nall crimes that he may have committed. Lord only knows what Joe Biden\nwas trying to cover up.\n  The hits continued when he issued 1,500 blanket commutations for\ncriminals whose records, by his own aide's admission, he did not\nreview, whose victims he did not consider--an affront to the pardon\nprocess envisioned by our Founders, intended to correct specific and\nlimited errors in the criminal justice system.\n  Among the beneficiaries of these commutations was a corrupt judge who\nsent hundreds of kids to jail for bribes. Yes, a judge took bribes to\nimprison children. The victims of the so-called ``kids for cash'' judge\nincluded a young man who later killed himself.\n  These 1,500 commutations also benefited hundreds of drug dealers,\nfraudsters, and thieves. Joe Biden and those who control him, though,\ndidn't seem to care about the victims of these criminals. Instead, they\njust continued their uncaring, offensive giveaway to criminals.\n  It has continued. In just the last 2 weeks, we learned that the Biden\nadministration released 11 Yemeni terrorists from Guantanamo Bay,\nincluding two suspected bodyguards of Osama bin Laden. We also learned\nthat Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and two other architects of the 9/11\nattacks will avoid the death penalty as a result of the Biden\nadministration plea deal.\n  That plea bargain is an insult to the sacrifice of thousands of young\nAmericans who left their homes, their families, and their professions\nafter 9/11 and volunteered to go fight on behalf of our country. That\nis an absolute disgrace, and it alone would blacken the legacy of any\nPresidency.\n  There should be a Senate resolution condemning every single one of\nthese commutations and the release of every single terrorist.\nUnfortunately, Senate Democrats would block every single resolution.\n  Case in point: Last month, I introduced a resolution condemning the\nDemocrats' commutation of that ``kids for cash'' judge. Surely, we\ncould agree on that. But, no, Senate Democrats, led by the Senator of\nIllinois, objected to even that limited bill.\n  Therefore, I have come to the floor today not to condemn all of these\natrocious actions, though they all deserve condemnation. I am simply\nhere to judge the depth of the Democratic fealty to a disgraced\nPresident halfway out the door.\n  I am asking the Senate to condemn just two of President Biden's\nlatest and most inexcusable commutations of all--his commutations of\ndeath row inmates' death sentences. Just 2 days before Christmas--2\ndays before Christmas--when most kids had visions of sugarplum fairies\ndancing in their heads, the President announced that he was commuting\nthe death sentence of 37 rapists, murderers, and sadists. With that\naction, he brought relief to 37 depraved monsters on death row and\ndespair to the families of their victims during the holiday season.\n  It is difficult to express the cruelty of reminding these families of\nthe worst days of their lives and robbing them of justice right before\nChristmas--a Christmas gift to 37 savage murderers and a reminder to\nthose families that, not only will they never spend Christmas with\ntheir loved ones again, but they won't get justice for their loved\nones.\n  The President showed disdain for the victims of these crimes and\ntheir families, presumably and cynically hoping that the Christmas\nholiday would suppress media attention and public backlash against his\ncommutation. I don't think so.\n  Now, the President and his defenders would like the American people\nto think that President Biden made these commutations out of some\nprincipled objection to the death penalty. I could respect that. I know\npeople who are opposed to the death penalty, no matter how heinous the\ncrime, in all cases, usually founded in a deep-seated religious\nconviction. I can respect that. I certainly disagree with it, but I\nunderstand it.\n  But that is not what Joe Biden did. That is a lie. He commuted the\nsentences of 37 death row inmates, and he left 3 killers on death row.\nWho are they? You may have heard of them. The Mother Emanuel Church\nshooter in Charleston, the Tree of Life synagogue shooter in\nPittsburgh, and the Boston Marathon bomber. So, clearly, he believes in\nthe death penalty for some criminals but not most.\n  He made a choice, a moral judgment, that the victims of 37 depraved\nmurderers and their families didn't deserve justice. He also made a\nchoice that not even he, doddering out of the White House, could defend\nthe commutations of racist murderers and terrorists on political\ngrounds or inflict that kind of grave political damage on his own\nparty.\n  But he wasn't motivated by principle. He was motivated by politics\nand guided by leftwing ideologues. He handpicked 37 murderers to save\nfrom death row. Unlike the rest of his pardons and commutations, you\ncan't hide behind the excuses of staff, incompetence, personal\nignorance, or the affection of a father. He knew who he was pardoning,\nand he knew the evil crimes they committed.\n  I would like to discuss in a little more detail just two of the\ndepraved savages that Joe Biden saved from death row. The first is\nAnthony Battle, who broke into his ex-wife's home and raped her,\nstabbed her to death with a butcher knife. She was heard screaming:\n``Help me, help me, rape.'' She was a U.S. marine, and Anthony Battle\nraped and murdered her.\n\n[[Page S135]]\n\n  Yet that murder wasn't even the crime for which he was on Federal\ndeath row. He wasn't done. While he was in prison, he beat a 31-year-\nold correctional officer to death with a hammer, hitting him in the\nback of the head three times until he was soaked in the officer's\nblood.\n  The corrections officer hadn't even done anything to provoke or\nconfront Battle. Battle beat him to death anyway. When he was given a\nchance to apologize for the killing, Battle said the officer ``died\nlike a dog.''\n  This is why we have the death penalty for correctional officers; so\ninhumane monsters who are stuck in prison for life have some reason not\nto start open hunting season on correctional officers.\n  This is the man that Joe Biden decided deserved mercy 2 days before\nChristmas, a man who raped and murdered a U.S. marine and bludgeoned a\npolice officer to death.\n  Joe Biden also saved the life of Marvin Gabrion, another rapist and\nserial killer. While facing trial for raping 19-year-old Rachel\nTimmerman--yes, that is right. He was on trial for raping a 19-year-old\ngirl. Gabrion kidnapped her.\n  He bound her body with duct tape, he chained her to a concrete block,\nand he threw her into a lake while she was still breathing. Her last\nmoments were filled with terror and agony.\n  In addition, he also killed her 11-month-old baby--11 months old. He\nallegedly confessed in prison that he ``killed the baby because there\nwas nowhere else to put it.''\n  This is the man that Joe Biden also decided deserved clemency 2 days\nbefore Christmas.\n  It is an ancient truth that some crimes are so evil that the scales\nof justice can never balance so long as the perpetrator lives. Every\nday that men like Marvin Gabrion and Anthony Battle draw breath at the\nexpense of American taxpayers is a day that justice is denied. There is\nno forgiveness in this world for what they did, and there is no\nredemption. The sooner they exit this world, the sooner they will face\nthe full measure of justice next.\n  And that is just two. I could give you 35 more examples as well. That\nis all I am asking for today--unanimous consent for two resolutions.\nThe first one condemns the commutation of Marvin Gabrion, a rapist and\nserial killer. The second condemns the commutation of Anthony Battle,\nwho raped and murdered a U.S. marine and bludgeoned a correctional\nofficer to death.\n  Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed\nto the en bloc consideration of the following Senate resolutions, which\nare at the desk: S. Res. 24 and S. Res. 25; further, I ask unanimous\nconsent that the resolutions be agreed to, the preambles be agreed to,\nand that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the\ntable with no intervening action or debate, all en bloc.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?\n  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, reserving the right to object.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic whip.\n  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I listened carefully to the presentation\nof the Senator from Arkansas and waited to hear five words. I waited\npatiently as he described these heinous crimes and the action of\nPresident Biden--waiting to hear five words. To my knowledge, unless I\nmissed it, he went through his whole speech without mentioning those\nfive words. They are critical to this whole issue.\n  I would like to clarify the record on Biden's recent clemency\nefforts. On December 23, President Biden announced he would commute the\nsentences of 37 of the 40 individuals who were on Federal death row.\nThese individuals will now have their sentences reclassified from\nexecution--here are the five words--to life without possibility of\nparole--life without possibility of parole.\n  Now, I understand Senator Cotton is opposed to the President's\ncommutations in at least two of these cases. I want to be clear. The\ncrimes he described, the crimes these individuals all committed are\negregious, and there must be accountability. The President's decision\nprovides for accountability. With a term of life imprisonment without\nthe possibility of parole, this will ensure that these individuals will\nnever again pose a threat to public safety, never again enjoy freedom\nin their entire human lives.\n  Now, my colleague from Arizona may disagree with the decision. That\nis his right. But I have long advocated for the abolition of the\nFederal death penalty. And I know he sees it differently.\n  I commend President Biden for his leadership. The death penalty is\ndeeply, deeply flawed. History tells us a terrible tale of the victims\nof the death penalty in America. It has disproportionately been applied\nto people of color. That is a fact. That is why I serve as lead sponsor\nof the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, bicameral legislation to\nprohibit the use of the death penalty at the Federal level.\n  I spoke out in July of 2020, when the Trump administration ended a\n17-year hiatus on Federal executions. In total, Trump oversaw 13\nexecutions in the last 6 months of his Presidency. I will continue to\nurge Congress to pass my legislation to end the Federal death penalty,\nfollowing the lead of 23 States that have already done so, including my\nState of Illinois. This failed and unjust policy has no place in a\ncivilized society.\n  If Senator Cotton is concerned about undermining the rule of law and\nrobbing victims of justice, we should consider for just a moment\nPresident Trump's pardons--for example, President Trump's decision to\ngrant clemency to all 10 healthcare executives and doctors convicted in\none of the largest Medicare fraud schemes in the history of our\ncountry. These decisions wiped away years of prison sentences because\nof the action taken by President Trump and restitution totaling\nhundreds of millions of dollars from some of the worst healthcare\nfraudsters in America's history. At least seven people pardoned by\nTrump have gone on to be charge with another crime, a new one.\n  President Trump also used his pardon power to provide relief for his\npolitical loyalists. Who am I referring to? His former campaign manager\nPaul Manafort, his National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, his former\nadviser Steve Bannon, and at least seven Republican Congressmen who\nhave been convicted of crimes.\n  Now President Trump has promised he will pardon the January 6 rioters\non day one of his new administration. He calls them ``political\nprisoners.''\n  I would like to ask my colleague from Arkansas if he supports\npardoning the following individuals:\n  David Dempsey, convicted of assaulting police officers by using ``his\nhands, feet, flag poles, crutches, pepper spray, broken pieces of\nfurniture, and anything else he could get his hands on'' as a weapon.\n  How about Shane Jenkins--a Trump pardon--convicted of using two axes\nto break into the Capitol and assaulting police officers by throwing\nfurniture and a flagpole at them.\n  Kyle Fitzsimons, convicted of five separate assaults against law\nenforcement, including one that caused career-ending, life-altering\ninjuries to U.S. Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell. A pardon? Is\nhe ready for a pardon?\n  Kenneth Bonawitz--a member of the so-called Proud Boys--assaulted at\nleast six officers, placing one officer in a choke hold, lifting him by\nthe neck. Bonawitz injured one officer so severely, it forced him into\nretirement.\n  I don't recall the Senator from Arkansas or any of his Republican\ncolleagues introducing similar resolutions to criticize any of\nPresident Trump's pardons, and I haven't heard any Senate Republicans\nurging President-elect Trump not to pardon the January 6 rioters.\n  President Biden's commutations providing for life imprisonment\nwithout parole are far more defensible than President Trump's use of\nthe pardon power during his first term or what he is planning for the\nfirst day of his second term.\n  For these reasons, I object.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hawley). The objection is heard.\n\n                       Unanimous Consent Request\n\n  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.\n  Mr. DURBIN. If the Senator from Arkansas wants to police the use of\npardon power, I urge him to instead support my resolution urging\nPresident-elect Trump not to pardon crimes committed during the January\n6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.\n\n[[Page S136]]\n\n  Even our former Senate colleague Vice President-elect Vance said this\nweek:\n\n       If you committed violence on [January 6], obviously you\n     shouldn't be pardoned.\n\n  I hope the Senator from Arkansas agrees.\n  So I ask unanimous consent on my resolution. It is a resolution that\ncontains the allegations which I made earlier.\n  Let me read the necessary script for the record.\n  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the\nconsideration of my resolution at the desk; further, that the\nresolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and the motions to\nreconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no\nintervening action or debate.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?\n  The Senator from Arkansas.\n  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, which I\ncertainly will, I want to briefly address what the Senator from\nIllinois said about my resolution condemning these two death sentence\ncommutations.\n  I want to acknowledge that the Senator from Illinois is a longtime\nand principled opponent of the death penalty, based I believe in part\non genuine and deep faith convictions. He has had that conviction for\nyears. As I have said, I can respect that.\n  The Senator from Illinois presumably wants to see the commutation of\nthe Mother Emanuel Church shooter, the Tree of Life synagogue shooter,\nand the Boston Marathon bomber. I strongly disagree. I can respect it.\nIt is not what Joe Biden did. Joe Biden picked and chose which depraved\nmurderers and rapists deserved to live and deserved to die, denying\njustice to the families of all those who were killed by anyone who\nwasn't totally politically toxic.\n  Second, the Senator from Illinois said that he did not hear five\nwords in my remarks. He repeatedly said he didn't hear five words in my\nremarks. Those five words he didn't hear are ``life without the\npossibility of parole.'' That is true--he didn't hear those words in my\nremarks. That is not what these murderers were sentenced to. They were\nsentenced by a jury of their peers to the death penalty. And one of\nthem that I offered the resolution on, Anthony Battle, murdered a\ncorrectional officer while he was in prison for life.\n  Giving these 37 depraved murderers life in prison without the\npossibility of parole doesn't solve the problem; it creates 37 new\npotential problems--open hunting season on correctional officers at\nevery facility where they are incarcerated. Again, that is why we have\nthe death penalty for the murder of a correctional officer--because\notherwise there is nothing for these depraved men to lose.\n  Senator Durbin also mentioned a few of President Trump's pardons of\nMedicare fraudsters or political allies or others. I haven't reviewed\nevery one of those cases. I am not prepared today to say whether I\nwould support them or not. Some of them sound pretty bad. Here is what\nthey aren't, though: heinous murderers who duct-taped a woman alive,\ntied her to a concrete block, and threw her in a river while the\nmurderer was on trial for her rape and then killed her 11-month-old\nbaby because he didn't have anything better to do with it.\n  He mentioned the January 6 defendants. President Trump said he is\ngoing to likely issue pardons in some of those cases. I think that is\nappropriate. Many of these men and women have been convicted of\nmisdemeanor crimes like parading and picketing on public grounds\nwithout a permit, and they had the book thrown at them, including a 70-\nyear-old great-grandma who was just walking around wearing a red MAGA\nhat. I expect, I hope, the President will review these cases on a case-\nby-case basis. I think all Presidents should do that. But whatever\nPresident Trump does with the January 6 defendants through commutations\nor pardons will pale in comparison to eliminating the judgment of these\n37 depraved murderers' fellow citizens to impose the death penalty on\nthem, will pale in comparison to depriving these families of some\nmeasure of justice 2 days before Christmas.\n  So I do object to this resolution, and I cannot believe that this\nSenate--our Democratic colleagues cannot bring themselves to condemn\nsome of these pardons over the last 2 months of Hunter Biden or the\n``kids for cash'' judge who sold kids into juvenile detention centers\nfor bribes or, now, depraved murderers.\n  I object.\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The objection is heard.\n  (Mr. SCOTT of Florida assumed the Chair.)\n  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Britt). The majority leader.\n\n                          ____________________"]], "columns": ["granule_id", "date", "congress", "session", "volume", "issue", "title", "chamber", "granule_class", "sub_granule_class", "page_start", "page_end", "speakers", "bills", "citation", "full_text"], "primary_keys": ["granule_id"], "primary_key_values": ["CREC-2025-01-14-pt1-PgS130-5"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3560131192207336, "source": "Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API", "source_url": "https://www.federalregister.gov/developers/api/v1", "license": "Public Domain (U.S. Government data)", "license_url": "https://www.regulations.gov/faq"}